New Toy!!

Andrew and I have never actually bought Jasper a toy before.

For Christmas, we got him nothing.

For his birthday, we got him a water bottle (which he loved, by the way).

In July, I got him a little "doo-dad" for 10 cents from the thrift store.

But that's it. No new toy, nothing, nada. Occasionally I'll give him a spatula and act like it's an amazing new toy for him to play with, but after 6 months of the spatula trick, Jasper is no longer impressed with the long piece of plastic.

Anyway, I was at Target on Saturday, and I came across these funky little bouncy balls that, when you throw them, they light up and flash all sorts of colors. I new instantly that Jasper would LOVE these. Not wanting to spoil him, though, I walked around the store for half an hour wondering if I should splurge the $2 to buy him his very first toy from Momma and Dada. In the end, I couldn't resist, and it's not like the $2 was going to break the bank, so I bought him the "LED light-up ball".

To say that Jasper was overjoyed with his new ball is a complete understatement. He is in complete, absolute, total love with this ball. The first thing he does when he gets out of his crib is grab both froggies, his big monkey blanket from the Clausons, a paci, his sippy cup, (yes, he likes to have all his favorite things around him at all times) and then run full blast to his new ball. Then his jaw drops and he just grins and grins and squeals and grins some more! Occasionally, he spins around in a circle as an extra expression of joy!

I'm not sure what he likes more- the new light-up ball or the fact that after 17 and a half months, he finally has something new to play with.

But it's so precious!! I love watching him get so much joy out of his toy and it's a good reminder to me that somewhere in the Bible, it says something to the effect of, "just as a parent loves to give good gifts to his child, so does the Heavenly Father delight in giving good gifts to those who love Him".

Below are a few blurry pics of Jasper this morning and his new light-up ball.